Vancouver’s ‘On Five’ a mass timber build showcase

Aone-of-a-kind light-industrial/commercial building in mid-town Vancouver is set for substantial completion by May 2022.

A pilot project whose soft costs are supported in part by Forestry Innovation Investment and Natural Resources Canada, the four-storey, 840-square metre building is intended to demonstrate high-performance mass timber construction and design.

Called oN5 (“On Five”), its name refers to its location near the intersection of Ontario Street and West 5th Avenue, in a busy commercial area of Mt. Pleasant, where there are many architecture and design firms.

The owner of the building is Robert Malczyk, the engineer of record on the project and principal of consulting structural engineers Timber Engineering Inc.

“There will be light industrial on the ground floor and three levels of offices above, including the headquarters of Timber Engineering,” said Malczyk.

oN5 is noteworthy, he says, for being built back-to-front on a 25-foot frontage out of slabs of prefab cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels using no posts or beams. And to Passive House standards, too.